If you pay any attention at all to our local art scene, you will be well aware that our major museums and the symphony are all hosting Chihuly exhibits right now. I suppose they ganged up so they could get a discount on shipping. It must take a lot of bubble wrap to pack his work.

The outdoor installations are at the botanical gardens. They are lit, and the gardens are staying open until ten p.m. so you can stroll the paths and be amazed. We and a thousand or so other folks took advantage of the relatively balmy evening to go have a look. I’m very glad we did.

Athena has been posting some new sketches over at her site. They are great, and really funny.You should go have a look.

I’ve been trying some new techniques too, trying to keep the creative boredom at bay. Apparently I was heavily influenced by the landscapes on our trip. Also, I have been reading The Sea Room,  an Island Life in the Hebrides. Perhaps that has something to do with what I’ve been sketching.

Last night I let the dogs out and the full moon was just rising above the trees. I haven’t shot the full moon in a while, so I ran back in grabbed the night camera, batteries and a tripod.

This shot makes me sick that I didn’t take the best night camera to Portugal, because it turned out that we were in a perfect spot for full moon photos but I had foolishly drawn the line at three cameras. So pretend that this shot is part of the vacation photos.

I don’t always have to get on a plane to take a nice photo. My driveway this morning. I felt like I should be hearing celestial music while I was snapping this.

One evening while the husband was cooking dinner and staring out the window toward the ocean, Kerrin and I decided it was a fine evening for a walk.

This adorable place was right up the road from us.

Watching the moon rise every night was magical.

This sunset shot was actually from our first night,

but I don’t think anyone will mind the lack of continuity.

We perhaps got the tiniest bit turned around, and wound up much farther away than we had intended, and I took increasingly blurry pictures of crumbly real estate, and speculated about renovation possibilities. The roof needs work, and we’d need a new door.

Ahh, back where we started.

Remember that crumbly windmill I mentioned? Today I will take you along on our hike. See it up there, on top above the hill behind the equally crumbly barn? It looked as though you ought to be able to light out through the pasture behind the house and go straight up to it. No, no, no my friend. After a couple of days of searching, I recognized the Portuguese word for windmill on a street sign.  There was an unbelievably steep and rutted path that ran between two houses, past some really scary dogs. It in no way deserved the designation of street. Kerrin and I toughed it out and bushwhacked our way through a path that hadn’t seen human feet in quite some time.

Finally we got to the top of the hill, scratched by brambles and sweating like field hands. It was totally worth it. We discovered that we had taken the long way around, and up. That’s our lighthouse on the right, those dots in the middle are cows.

Almost there!

The village of Ginetes, seen through the door.

Ginetes in it’s entirety. We would not be the first visitors to chuck everything and move here.

On the other side of the windmill, we found the track the farmers use to get to the cattle. No less steep, but much less brambly. Later we convinced the guys to go up with us.

Shot of six foot plus husband provided for scale. Those are some tall weeds. After walking on paths

like these, the views seem even more spectacular.

First of all. I’d love to recommend Sao Miguel to everyone because of it’s sheer perfection, but then I realized that not everyone’s idea of paradise is the same as mine. If you like dressing up and going out to a restaurant every night, perhaps you should go somewhere else. Once you leave the city of Ponta Delgada, restaurant is pretty wide open term. If you are an adventurous diner, you’ll be in heaven. If you like to know what you are ordering, not so much. Our first dinner there was roasted octopus and it was divine. I took a picture, but perhaps I will put it at the end of the post so as not to offend the weak of stomach.

If you like miles of sandy beach, keep moving. This is definitely not the place for you. If you look closely you can see tiny little people playing amongst the jagged rocks.

If you live to shop, you will seriously go into retail withdrawal. Right along the waterfront in Ponta there are some touristy jewelry and tchotchke shops, but otherwise it is a retail desert. Personally, I am just fine with that. If your vacation is about acquiring souvenirs, this will be a disappointing run for you.

However if you like standing in a spot and watching the light change across a scene like this, you will be in heaven.

If you like seeing flowers that we struggle to keep alive being used as roadside and pasture hedges, ditto.

If you like looking out your bedroom window and being slapped speechless by the sky…you will never be disappointed.

And for the squeamish…Fair Warning! Look Away! Delicious but Possibly Disturbing Food Ahead!!!

Consider yourself warned!

Roasted octopus with new potatoes. Mmmmmmm!

Did you miss me? Did you wonder where I was? Well, I was in the tiny town of Ginetes in Sao Miguel, Portugal. This was the view from the patio where we ate dinner every night and watched the moon rise. Actually this was the view to the left.

This was the view to the right.

The whole island is so stunningly gorgeous that everywhere you look is another astounding view. Our house was incredible, an old villa with just enough updates to keep you comfortable, but not so much that you could ever forget where you were. There was a crumbly stone barn out back, and on the hill above us, the remains of an ancient windmill.

The whole island is a geologist’s dream, pocked with volcanic calderas and hot springs. We hiked up to the windmill behind the house and were amazed to find ourselves standing on the rim of a crater and realizing that from below what looked like terraced hills were actually old lava flows, and the top of every mountain hides a caldera.

Don’t worry, there will be lots more pictures, I promise.

1. Brussels Sprouts on the grill. Seriously. If you hate them, this might change your mind. If you like them, you will be in heaven.

2. Tilda Swinton’s new movie I Am Love. She is fearless and fabulous.

3. Enough rainfall that I didn’t have to stand outside for the past few mornings with a garden hose attempting to keep my garden alive.

4. Having my kid come home from visiting his auxiliary family in Wahoo, Nebraska thrilled beyond belief about getting to do the sort of summer vacation things that we used to take for granted, like riding his bike with his friends to get ice cream all on their own, and watching a 4th of July parade and fireworks at the Wahoo Municipal Ball Field.

5. Packing for a vacation in Paradise.

6. This summer in particular.

You are looking at 50% of this year’s tomato crop. Somewhere on this property is a very full chipmunk with a price on his head. Enjoy your last days, fuzz head. I slipped an envelope with your picture in it to a hawk who has a knack for making guys like you disappear…

The fact that you will taste like home grown vine ripened tomato is a bonus for him.

Perhaps he will have a nice plate of pasta and a glass of Chianti to wash you down.

Sleep with one eye open you tomato thieving rodent.